Minas Gerais Then and Now

Belo Horizonte is today one of the largest and most important of all Brazil's cities, and so it is hard to
imagine that it used to be just a small village only some years ago.
João Leite da Silva Ortiz, an explorer, started a small farm and named it Curral Del Rey in 1701. The
farm was a successful business and it began to develop into something similar to a village, encircled by
other farms.

Imagem 3 - Igreja de São Francisco de

Imagem 1- Minas Gerais in Brazil. Imagem 2- Bandeira de Minas Gerais.
Assis (Ouro Preto, MG).

Fonte: (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, Fonte: (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, 2023) Fonte: (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, 2017)
2011)

The city of Ouro Preto used to be the capital of the state of Minas Gerais but when Brazil became
independent in 1889, people knew that a new capital of Minas Gerais was necessary. In the year of
1893, Curral Del Rey became the capital city. Its name changed to Cidade de Minas.

Imagem 4 - Brasão Minas Gerais. Imagem 5 - Panorama Pampulha.

Fonte: (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, 2017) Fonte: (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, 2012)

Cidade de Minas was inaugurated in 1897. But in 1906, the city was renamed Belo Horizonte. It was a
significant period in the history of Belo Horizonte, because of the industrial expansion.
In 1940, the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer met with Belo Horizonte's mayor and future
president of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira. The mayor gave permission for Niemeyer to
design a new district called the neighborhood of Pampulha. The project was completed in 1943, and
Niemeyer and Kubitschek are considered responsible for the modern appearance of Belo Horizonte
The flag of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is based on state law 2793 from 8 January 1963, which
describes the flag as follows: In the centre of a white rectangle there is the format of a red equilateral
triangle.
The triangle carries the phrases "LIBERTAS", "QUAE SERA" and "TAMEN".
Fonte: (WIKIPEDIA, [2023])

38